Aretha Franklin News

The Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (MOCA) is currently exhibiting “My Name is Maryan” – a monographic presentation of four decades of paintings, sculptures, drawings and film by the iconoclastic, ground-breaking Polish-born artist Maryan.

Tony-winner Cynthia Erivo has been set to star in and produce Blink Speed, a new sci-fi film for Netflix. The film is based on a short story by Eric Brown, who will also pen the new adaptation. The Trial of the Chicago 7 producer Matt Jackson is also attached to produce the new film.

One part horn-driven Chicago blues-rock and one part Mardi Gras parade, this unique reworking sounds both fresh and classic. The band recorded it with then-20-year-old wonder Anthony Cullins on lead guitar, resident keyboardist Mark Hattersley channeling Professor Longhair, and the whole band supporting a growling vocal from Sully himself. 

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is pleased to announce the energetic live music concert Soul Spectacular, featuring the eagerly awaited return of The HooDoo Loungers and special guest Mighty Ramon & The Phantoms of Soul, on Saturday, February 12, at 8 p.m. live at Bay Street Theater. All attendees must show proof of vaccination and will be required to wear a mask throughout the entire show.

Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter, Managing Director Shane Murray-Corcoran, and Executive Producers Walter Stearns and Eugene Dizon announce the cast and creative team for the next Mainstage production of the 2021-2022 Mercury Theater Chicago season, Women of Soul, featuring a special tribute to Aretha Franklin.

Created and directed by composer, conductor, and multi-genre musician   Damien Sneed, Our Song, Our Story is an evening of music highlighting some of the world’s most well-known arias, art songs and spirituals, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 7:30PM.

Valerie Simpson plays Aretha Franklin, in A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul. Simpson is a six-time Grammy Nominee and renowned singer and songwriter. She is half of the songwriting-performing-producing entity known as Ashford & Simpson.

Dinner with Booker T. offers an inside historical look into the life of one of America's greatest orators, educators, presidential advisors, and a leader in advancing Black Americans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mr. Booker T. Washington.

The significance of the title of this new show, 20 Years Left, resides in the fact that the artists involved are mature, seasoned performance poets of a certain age who reckon that they have...20 years left!

Cynthia Erivo, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Emerald Fennell, and Sarah Jessica Parker, have been inducted into the Variety 500 list. Previous members of the list include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Billy Porter, Hugh Jackman, Emma Stone, Nicole Kidman, Viola Davis, James Corden, Jim Parsons, Sam Mendes, and more.

This week, the musical Dreamgirls is celebrating its 40th anniversary! To celebrate, the show's Tony-winning original star, Jennifer Holliday, stopped by Twitter to sing from the show's finale to help fans process the changes the pandemic has brought and to help them dream of a brighter future.

The new seven-episode ALL ARTS series “We Are Broadway” explores what the journey back to theaters has meant to the cast and crew of some of Broadway’s biggest hits, including Beetlejuice, Wicked, Aladdin, Hadestown, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical and more.

American Idol Season 16 finalist and Paramount+ Queen of the Universe star Ada Vox will be joined by American Idol Season 17 finalist Jeremiah Lloyd Harmon for a one night only event at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Thursday, March 3, 2022, at 8:30pm, it was announced today by Chris Isaacson Presents and Catalina.

Created and directed by composer, conductor, and multi-genre musician   Damien Sneed, Our Song, Our Story is an evening of music highlighting some of the world's most well-known arias, art songs and spirituals, Tuesday, January 18, 2022, at 7:30PM. 

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic songs and album ever this year, McLean will entertain fans across the continent throughout nearly 30 cities from Honolulu to Toronto and everything in between, proving that “bye-bye, Miss American Pie” will forever remain a classic staple in American music.

Films such as West Side Story, tick, tick...BOOM!, Cyrano, Encanto, and In the Heights were recognized this morning by the Hollywood Foreign Press. Nominees also included Peter Dinklage, Denzel Washington, Cynthia Erivo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ewan McGregor, Uzo Aduba, Aaron Sorkin, Hannah Waddingham, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and more.

Emmy, Grammy and six-time Tony Award winning Broadway sensation AUDRA MCDONALD will be performing live at the London Palladium with the forty-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra on Sunday 25 September 2022 at 7.00pm. Alongside Andy Einhorn and the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, Audra will take you through the Great American Songbook and Broadway's greatest hits.

IMG Artists Presents Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Damien Sneed, the multi-talented composer, conductor, musician, and vocalist, who kicks off 2022 with Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices at four locations. Created, curated, and directed by the award-winning musician, Our Song, Our Story is an evening of music highlighting some of the world's most well-known operatic arias, art songs, and spirituals.

Marc Maron has four hit stand-up comedy specials -including “MORE LATER”(2015) on Epix, and “THINKY PAIN”(2013),“MARCMARON: TOO REAL'(2017) and 2020's“END TIMES FUN', which was nominated for a 2021 Critics' Choice Award, on Netflix.

The Van Wezel has announced special guests for the upcoming performance A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul on Wednesday Feb. 9th at 8 p.m.